WEEKLY MEMO February 5, 2016
To: Charleroi School Board Members
Meetings
Monday, February 8th - Buildings, Grounds and Transportation @ 10:00 am in Community Room
Thursday, February 11th - Visiting Elizabeth Forward High School Library @ 8:00 am
Tuesday, Feb. 16th - Athletics, Education and Board Meeting begins @ 4:30 pm
Tuesday, Feb. 23rd - Finance and Regular Board meeting begins @ 5:00 pm
Thursday, Feb. 25th - California School District Tour
Pennsylvania State Budget Proposal
Marching Band and Choir Trip to Nashville Tennessee March 31-April 3
34 Charleroi students are going on the trip.
24 students are from the Marching Band
5 students are from Show Choir only
5 students are in both Marching Band/Show Choir
The cost for the trip is is set by the tour company. It is based upon the occupancy of the room and the participants signed up for the rooms.
$549 per person if in a Quad room
$586 per person if in a Triple room
$661 per person if in a Double Room
Tour of California Area School District Lighting and Facilities
Bill Gordon will lead us on a tour of the California Area School District Campus to view the recently completed lighting upgrade on Thursday, February 25, 2016, at 2:45 p.m.
The first part of the tour will begin in the Charleroi Middle/High School Lobby. We will be viewing 2 Charleroi Middle School Classrooms (Ms. McGinity and Mr. Pappasergi) that have been updated with LED lighting.
STEM Technology
The Ultimaker 3D printer arrived on campus today.
Pictured on the right are students from Mrs. Palonder's 8th period class and artifacts that they created with the printer today
WPIAL Steering Committe Meetings
Earlier this year I was selected as a WPIAL Basketball Sttering Committee Member.
I will be participating in 3 meetings at The WPIAL headquarters in Green Tree during the week of February 8
Monday, February 8 8:00 am - 5:00 pm WPIAL Boys and Girls Seeding meeting
Tuesday, February 9 4:00 pm - 8:00 PM WPIAL Boys and Girls Pairing Meeting
Wednesday, February 10 1:00 pm - 4:00 PM WPIAL Re-Classification Meeting
Every Student Succeeds Act
As you know in December President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) which replaced some key components of No Child Left Behind. While ESSA includes many encouraging measures, such as flexibility in how we identify and improve our lowest performing schools and a reduced focus on standardized testing, the commonwealth still has to meet several obligations under the new law.
ESSA lessens the reliance on standardized tests, however states are still required to administer assessments in grades 3 through 8 and in high school. As such, the PSSA will continue to be administered in our classrooms this spring.
The PA Core, which districts have been transitioning to over the past two years will remain in place. Teachers, administrators, and others have been working hard to adopt the more rigorous standards and abandoning those high standards would shortchange our students and devalue everyone’s hard work.
Keystone Graduation Requirement Delay
Recently, the General Assembly approved a delay in using the Keystone Exams as a graduation requirement until 2019. The bill was signed into law by Governor Wolf on February 3. This delay will serve our students and schools well, and its passage was the result of tremendous work from our educators, advocates, lawmakers, parents, and others.
The Keystone Exams in Literature, Biology and Algebra I will continue to be administered as they are still federally-required, and will be used for statewide reporting.
The bill also requires the Department of Education, over the next six months, to investigate and develop alternatives to the use of the test as the primary graduation requirement. PDE’s intention is to explore alternatives for all students to demonstrate college and career readiness, while maintaining a high level of rigor.
West Virginia University Requests Permission to Conduct a Water Quality Study in our District
Melissa O’Neal is a project manager for the West Virginia Water Research Institute at West Virginia University. They have been funded by the Colcom Foundation to conduct a water quality study in regards to a public health concern over total trihalomethane (TTHM).
Their objective is to sample upstream of the water intake at several schools under each of the water authorities along the Monongahela River. She was at our high school on Thursday, February 4 to conduct a water test.
2016-17 Budget
Mrs. Zahand has been meeting with the Principals and Department heads in preparation of the 2016-2017 Budget. We are on schedule and progress continues to be made, expenditures are being analyzed, cutbacks are being made where possible.
School Transportation Software
Transfinder software training is underway, Keith Boord, Keith Jacobs, and Crystal will be attending weekly training webinars to develop and implement our new software!
Kindergarten Registration
March 31, 2016 - 9:30 - 3:00 Parents Only Registration in Alumni Room
May 4, 2017 - 9:00 - 3:00 pm Pre- Entry assessments for new kindergarten students
May 10, 2017 - 6:00 - 6:45 & 7:00 - 7:45 "Meet and Greet Night" for students and parents
Girl's Varsity Soccer Coaching Search
Charleroi School District Presents Spring Musical - Alice @ Wonderland
March 4 & 5, performance at 7:30 pm
March 6 performance at 2:00 pm
What would happen if a 21st century Alice collided with Lewis Carroll’s legendary Wonderland? This modern retelling of the classic children’s story has all of the characters you know and love, including the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit and the Queen of Hearts. The story is laid out in traditional style, except that Alice is distinctly contemporary, complete with cell phone in hand. Full of references to text messaging and social media, the play imagines a present-day Alice encountering the Wonderland so many of us treasure. A sharply told, crisply paced ride, this quality adaptation has been praised for its humor, modern style and appeal to both children and adults.
SUPERINTENDENT'S MEETINGS
MEETINGS THIS WEEK
MONDAY FEBRUARY 1
9:00 AM - AGENDA SETTING FOR BUILDINGS, GROUNDS & TRANSPORTATION
1:30 PM - TRANSFINDER
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 2
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 3
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 4
10:00 AM - MID-YEAR EVALUATION - MR. KILLINGER
11:00 AM - MID-YEAR EVALUATION - MR. FLENNIKEN
2:30 PM - CHEERLEADING MEETING
6:30 PM - PARENT SOCIAL MEDIA NIGHT - HIGH SCHOOL
7:00 PM - VO-TECH MEETING
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 5
9:30 AM - MID-YEAR EVALUATION - MR. SHIELDS
11:00 AM - MID-YEAR EVALUATION - MRS. ZAHAND
NEXT WEEK
MONDAY FEBRUARY 8
9:30 AM - WPIAL BASKETBALL COMMITTEE
10:00 AM - BUILDINGS, GROUNDS & TRANSPORTATION
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 9
9:00 AM - BOARD AGENDA MEETING
11:00 - MID-YEAR EVALUATION-MR. BOORD
1:00 PM - MR. CAMUT & STUDENTS
4:00 PM - WPIAL MEETING
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 10
7:30 AM - FAYETTE COUNTY DRUG & ALCOHOL
10:00 AM - MID-YEAR EVALUATION-MR. BREWER
1:00 PM - WPIAL MEETING
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 11
8:00 AM - ELIZABETH FORWARD SCHOOL DISTRICT LIBRARY VISIT
12:30 PM - MID-YEAR EVALUATION - DR. MASON
2:00 PM - MID-YEAR EVALUATION - MRS. NELSON
6:00 PM - EDUCATION FOUNDATION
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 12
8:00 AM - STAFF DEVELOPMENT ALL DAY
12:30 PM - SECRETARIES' MEETING